In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:10-11
For every belief you hold (especially if you hold it to a strong degree) it makes sense that there is some form of a reasonable explanation for it. At least one that makes sense to you. But just because we hold certain beliefs doesn’t necessarily mean we are always good at articulating them. Sometimes we even get the opportunity to try and explain to someone that very thing that makes so much sense in our heads, but when it starts to come out of our mouths we become lost in our own words. We kick ourselves because we realize we didn’t do it justice. Not too long ago I was visiting an old friend and his wife to catch up on things and meet their newborn son. I hadn’t seen them since well before I was saved. We had been keeping in touch with each other to some degree, whether it was through social media, Christmas cards, or random texts and calls. Some sort of change in my life became evident to them. They were noticing all this new stuff I had been sharing about God and Christianity and seeing all of these changes in me in general. So as we were sitting down talking about everything going on in our lives, obviously the topic came up. You couldn’t ask for someone who was more genuinely inquisitive and interested in hearing about it. The conversation and chance to evangelize with someone I care deeply about couldn’t have been more easy to jump into. But even good players strike out in slow pitch softball sometimes. It just happens.
The original idea for this blog was for it to be more of an elevator pitch. As I started to write things down, there was more and more that came to mind that I simply just couldn’t leave out. So instead, imagine you’re in an elevator but it gets stuck for like 20 minutes. Everyone seems to be familiar with some version of an elevator pitch for Christianity, or at least have heard someone say “Jesus died for our sins.” Simple enough right? Well if you can understand the entire Gospel of Jesus Christ by hearing those few words, congratulations, God has given you a degree of comprehension that I am not blessed with. Honestly, as someone hearing it for the first time, those words on an island by themself didn’t do much for me. I didn’t walk away saying “Oh, I understand everything now.” We may never even come to a complete understanding of every aspect of Christianity, in fact we will always be growing in our knowledge of God. Yet, in order for us to grow in our faith and understand it to the point we can articulate it, it helps to go through it step by step, starting from scratch.
In order to wrap our heads around the Gospel of Jesus Christ we must first understand the existence of God; because in order for Christianity to be true, God must exist. So let’s start there. Whatever caricature of God that exists in your head, whether it be an old white man on a cloud, some idea you heard from a crystal salesperson that said ‘God is nature,’ or Morgan Freeman, let’s put these images aside and start with a clear mind. Let’s imagine a computer. Is it logically possible to say that the computer created itself? Of course not, because that means that the computer would’ve had to preexist itself in order to have created itself. Existing is a fundamental precondition to having the ability to create. I believe it makes more sense to claim that something must’ve preexisted the computer that had the ability to create the computer. Something that had the power to create it, the knowledge of how to create and sustain it, and it would’ve had to have a personal element to it in order to make the choice to create it. This now becomes easy for us to at least rationalize and say: “OK, this being, whatever or whoever it may be had to at least preexist the universe, have the power and knowledge to create it, and clearly has the ability to make conscious decisions because it would’ve had to decide to create the universe. Some things exist out of pure necessity, for example; in order to be a bachelor, marriage would necessarily have to exist. But the material universe does not just have to exist out of pure necessity.” Let’s give this conscious/all powerful being a name, God.
For thousands and thousands of years, humans have tried to rationalize this almighty creator of the universe. Thousands of cultures from all around the world would come up with their own interpretation of this being. This is a look into one of the many things that set humans apart from the rest of creation. We are the only species with the ability to think about and rationalize and philosophize about such a creator. It’s as if worship is intrinsic in who we are as a species, or that we are specifically geared to further know this being. So anyway, all of these different cultures and people groups would make sacrifices, hold rituals, enact laws and worship their own interpretation of this being. Then 2000 years ago something happened. Something different. There lived and walked a man from Nazzareth who claimed to be God incarnate. Now on its face we may just say “ok yeah but so what, anyone can do that.” Stick with me, not only did He claim this at the risk of being killed for claiming it, He also healed people’s ailments, cured the lame, gave vision to the blind (amen), and even if you want to write those off as maybe being more of a metaphor than anything else (although I disagree) fine, but that doesn’t explain why there is a literal empty tomb. Not only is the tomb empty, this man who claimed to be God among us called His shot. The Christian faith is distinct for this very thing, the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus of Nazareth. It is a faith that stakes its claim on a historical event, not just mysticism.
Perhaps it was a big conspiracy by His followers who stole His body, perhaps they were all hallucinating, perhaps these were just stories made up and corrupted much later, don’t all of these seem more rational than claiming a guy actually rose from the dead? Even if it were all true (historically speaking,) what does it mean for me that this guy suffered and died all those years ago? What does this have to do with me and my life? Well let’s actually look into it and understand the context of His story. Because I tell ya what, if you said you would die, and resurrect after 3 days, then actually did it, I would for sure listen to what you have to say. While we do that, keep these 2 things in mind. If there is a God who has the ability to create the world out of pure nothingness, then the Jesus story is childsplay. And secondly, truly ask yourself, if I believed it to be true, would I follow Him?
His story goes something like this. When God created mankind in the garden, He gave us a choice. A choice to either follow Him and what He wants from you and what He has planned for you as directed by His commands, or rebel and choose to define what is right and wrong for yourselves as opposed to what He ordained as righteous. He did as any loving father ought to do. He lays out a set of commands to allow the righteous and safe development of a child but with enough freedom by which they are able to experience the consequences of their rebellion. Take for example a dad who wants their child to be safe while riding their bike. He would say you ought to wear a helmet, and would be justified in saying ‘you are punished if you don’t.’ But notice, the choice to wear the helmet or not still exists for the child. The loving father doesn’t let his kid not ride a bike to prevent the child from harm, instead he gives them direction, guidance, and a choice to obey or not. God in this sense allowed Adam and Eve to quite literally eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Man chose to rebel and the connection/relationship between God and man in an instance now became broken. His standards are perfection, by choosing to go against Him, we now become imperfect, stained. God then cast mankind from the garden because we now became stained by the sin that we chose over relation and unending trust in Him. Just as Wonka would be justified in kicking Charlie and Grandpa Joe out of the factory after drinking the soda that made them float to the ceiling fan. Wonka said, you don’t know what you’re doing, you can’t be trusted, now you have to leave. So why would this creator God allow them to break His rules? Well in a loving relationship, there must be free choice. We are not puppets locked in God’s basement that are forced to love Him, that wouldn’t be true love. In order for a relationship to be true love, there must exist the choice to freely enter or exit the relationship. Mind you, God is just and merciful. When we were cast from the garden, He promised a way back. He promised that He himself will not allow the relationship between God and man to be forever broken. He made a covenant with man that He would bring a Son to crush the head of the serpent who would in turn pierce His heel.
Being cast from the garden, we now find ourselves set in the world we see around us. A world filled with death, destruction, cancer, and earthquakes to name a few. But through it all God would remain true to His promise. Through His covenants, He was able to keep a lifeline between Himself and mankind, while still allowing us to have a free will as we navigate this sometimes dark world. With His covenant to Noah He would promise to preserve His people. Him saying, ‘I have the ability to start this all over from scratch but you have my promise that I will uphold you and not wipe you all out.’ Then through the faith of Abraham that was displayed on the altar with His Son Isaac, God would make a covenant with Abraham. Not only now preserving His people, but that through Abraham, this great nation shall be established. A nation whose descendants will be as many as the stars above. Then another covenant through Moses, that His people would be emancipated and be able to live in the land God had set aside for them and be expected to live in accordance with His law. Then through His covenant with King David, God would promise that this Son, this messiah would come through the line of David. He would use people dedicated and elected by Him to be Prophets amongst His people by which He can unveil His redemptive plan for Israel. Now there would be falling away, there would be persecution of His people, there would be exile from the land He reserved just for them, but despite all of this He forever remained faithful to His people.
This brings us to the ultimate and complete fruition of God’s covenants. A child was born who would be the promised one. That through Him, the relationship between God and man can be restored, and through His stripes we would be healed. We’ve heard it a million times but do we fully understand what we mean when we say that He died for our sins? In order to accept a cure, we must come to the understanding that we have the disease. The disease in this case is sin. We all fall short of the glory of God, whose standards are perfection. As we went over earlier, sin has entered the world through Adam, all of us have become stained. Fully to blame for our own decision to sin instead of following God’s holy commands. While we may never have murdered someone or robbed a bank or committed adultery, each one of us is guilty and responsible to answer for the sins we commit. So what if you never murdered someone, Jesus, God incarnate said even if you hold hatred for someone you have murdered them in your heart. So what if you never cheated on your wife or husband, Jesus, God incarnate said even if you look upon a woman with lust, you have committed adultery with them in your heart. When we come face to face with a holy and just judge we are going to be held responsible for the sins we commit against God, but as we have all heard before “For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Heaven is not something I deserve. We may say “but God I’m a good person, look at all this stuff I do, I help my friends, I go to church, I do this, I do that etc etc.” Here rests the difference with Christianity, it’s not about what we do, it’s about what He has done. If you are on trial for something as serious as murder in front of a just judge, He won’t care about the time we helped an old lady cross the street. On the cross, Jesus took on the punishment that we all deserve. If we put our faith in Jesus, the covenant sealer, the promised bridge back, the healer, God Himself among us, Emmanuel, then we are promised that our slate is wiped clean, our debt is paid in full.
Ok great, so now that we have an understanding of what Jesus has done, what role does this play in my life? In other words, how can I be assured that I am covered? In order to have our record wiped clean and be covered by the merciful grace of God, all we are asked to do is believe. What does it mean to believe though? I mean, even the demons believe in God, so what’s the difference between us and them? Let me ask it this way, if you were standing in the middle of the road and you believed a truck was going to hit you, you would get out of the way. Actually believing in something intrinsically causes you to react. The scariest thing Jesus said in the bible is how He promised that one day some will come to Him and say ‘but Lord, we broke bread, we served, we worshiped all in your name. And He will respond by saying , be gone from me, I never knew you.’ He doesn’t care that you made cinnamon rolls for the church potluck, He cares if you have a heart that wants to carry out His will and love for the world around you. Not because you are trying to earn a spot in heaven, that’s impossible, but that through sheer admiration of His sacrifice, your heart may be so filled by His spirit that you cannot help but let it overflow and spread to all around you.
But how can I be in relation with Him? What does that even mean? It means a few things. It means that He isn’t just something you do on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. Imagine telling your wife ‘honey I know we have a relationship, but that’s only for an hour on Sundays when I choose to go at my own convenience.” Relationships are something you live in, and they live in you. A loving relationship changes how you act in the world. How we act in the world reflects not only yourself but the person you are in a relationship with. “Isn’t that so and so’s wife? Wow, I feel bad for him, look at the way she’s behaving.”or maybe a little more common of an example that we hear “Wait, are you really friends with that person?” Whoever you are in a relationship with is an extension and reflection of yourself. Whether it be a friendship, being a fan of someone, a paternal, marital, or even divine relationship. The more you live in the relationship, the more you are molded by it. You will come to hate the things you once loved, you will love the things you once rolled your eyes at. For a relationship to continue to exist, they must to some degree be maintained. Another way of upholding this relationship is by connecting with Him. Do that through prayer. Imagine being in a relationship with someone who never talked to you? Is that a real loving relationship? We also grow in relation with someone through experiencing them. By surrounding yourself with them. Unfortunately we do not have the physical person Jesus here on earth to experience. So what we can do to experience His presence is experience through the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and others. We can also experience Him by spending time in His word. Imagine your loved one had a whole documentary series about their life and you never took the time to watch it. Study it, learn more about the one you are relation with, He’s right there waiting for you. To take that heart of stone of yours and give you a heart of flesh. A heart that recognizes your sin and earnestly tries to change and pursue Him. One that recognizes that the world does not revolve around you and that we are not the ones who decide what is objectively right and wrong in this world but instead we humbly submit to the one who displayed His love for the world on the cross. To Be honest, It’s not easy, we still have to navigate this fallen world. You’ll be ridiculed, mocked, looked at differently. Then you’ll find that some people will treat you with kid gloves as if you are this completely different person. But they wouldn’t be completely wrong. If you are the same person after you came to know Christ that you were before you came to know Christ, then you don’t know Christ, and there is only 1. There is only 1 that has the ability to save. He’s not the one that says ‘you do you,’ or ‘do whatever makes you happy’. He is the one who says, deny yourself, be humble enough to admit that your way can be wrong, for the heart is deceitful above all things. Instead He says follow me, and be born again.
Imagine now if I truly in my heart believed all of this and withheld it from you. Maybe it’s because of some imaginary inconvenience or risk of sounding like a yahoo. It breaks my heart whenever I find myself putting Christ on a shelf in order to conform to the crowd, to avoid confrontation, or perhaps a desire to be liked by others. But what if I actually believed I were holding the gate code to heaven and didn’t share it with those around me, how unloving of an act would that be?
All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.
Acts 10:43